"Hitler's most intimate enemy"--Readings and a Discussion of Thomas Mann's Antifascist Radio Addresses

“Hitler’s most intimate enemy”—Readings and a Discussion of Thomas Mann’s Antifascist Radio Addresses with Elaine Chen (Harvard), Jeffrey High (CSU Long Beach), Hans Vaget (Smith). While in exile during World War II, Nobel laureate Thomas Mann delivered 58 radio addresses to his fellow Germans, urging them to cleanse the country of Nazism. These brief speeches, broadcast to Germany by the BBC, offer a scathing critique of fascism, a staunch defense of democracy, insightful analysis of nascent totalitarianism, and a chronicle of emerging news about the Holocaust as it unfolded. Students will present excerpts of these brief speeches (in English), accompanied by discussion with the editors of Thomas Mann’s Antifascist Radio Addresses (Camden House, 2025) exploring the relevance of Mann’s insights for our current political-cultural moment. Sponsored by the Departments of German & Italian, Government, World Literatures, Jewish Studies, and Translation Studies.